Memories
by Hylian Monarch
Summary: Link is rescued after being kidnapped by a mad scientist, but he has no memories of what happened. As he starts remembering the ordeal, an unlikely Smasher comes to his side to help him regain his courage. Rated for disturbing scenes and mild language.
1. Caught in a Web

Memories

Summary: Link is rescued after being kidnapped by a mad scientist, but he has no memories of what happened. As he starts remembering the ordeal, an unlikely Smasher comes to his side to help him recover. Rated for disturbing scenes and mild language.

* * *

Chapter 1 – Caught in a Web

He looked through each of the Smasher's files on his computer, studying each one carefully. He needed the right one for his plan to work. As he searched each file, he started to grow more frustrated; none of the Smashers so far were going to meld well with his plan.

"Too generic," grunted the man. He clicked to see the next profile. "Too emotionless."

Click.

"Too young."

Click.

"Too weird."

Click.

"Too—wait a minute…this is it! He'll work perfectly!" He stared at the profile on his screen and laughed. "Why didn't I think of using him sooner!? Now all I need is to bring him here!" He punched a few keys into his computer and saved the desired file to a special disk. As the disk finished getting prepared, he stood up and walked over to the intercom in the control room where he resided. "Miss Ubel, could you come into my office?"

"Yes, Doctor Spinne?" responded the female on the other line. A few moments later, a slender female in her early thirties walked into the control room. Her buttoned-up white lab coat showed off her busty, curvy figure. Her black stockings and high heels showed off her well-toned legs. Long, black hair flowed behind her as she walked. Her long bangs framed her icy blue eyes, making her tanned skin look darker. "What is it that you desire, Doctor?"

"I have an assignment for you, Miss Ubel," answered Doctor Furcht. He was a middle-aged man, no older than fifty-five-years-old. His messy gray hair fell down over his forehead to frame his brown eyes, which looked at his assistant through thin-framed glasses. He had an average build which was mostly hidden in his baggy, white lab coat that he left unbuttoned. He wore white dress pants, a light blue polo shirt, and black dress shoes. His pale skin looked even paler in the fluorescent lights that illuminated the control room. He grabbed the finished disk and handed it to his assistant. "This is the man that I want you to bring to me. Use the Spider Drones only if necessary." Ubel grinned wickedly.

"Yes, Doctor Spinne," she replied. She bowed lightly, then strutted out of the control room. Spinne walked back to the main computer he was at and looked at the profile on the screen, grinning even more wickedly than his assistant had.

"Soon…soon my plans will commence…This world will have no choice but to bow to me if all goes according to plan," he chuckled to himself. His chuckle soon turned into a maniacal laugh that echoed throughout the control room and into the halls of the building.

* * *

"All-a rightie!" shouted Mario as he watched Link and Fox duke it out on the Final Destination stage. "This is-a turning out to be a good-a fight!" It was mandatory that at least one Smasher was operating the controls for the battle room to make sure the systems didn't malfunction, and to press the abort button if anything happened during the fight or if someone surrendered. Link and Fox were best friends and enjoyed battling each-other for fun, and, at their request, Mario was usually the one keeping an eye on things. It didn't bother Mario, especially since he got to fight the winner of the match each time, so he wasn't left out.

He was so focused on the fight that he didn't hear the door to the control room open behind him. He felt someone tap his shoulder, and he turned around to be faced by a tall, dark, and beautiful woman. The woman merely smiled.

"Excuse me," she greeted. "I am Miss Ubel. I'm Doctor Spinne's assistant. I hate to interrupt, but is there some way that I can speak with this man right here?" She took a picture out of her file and handed it to the plumber.

"Link?" asked Mario. The woman nodded. "What for?"

"The doctor wishes to speak with Link about his medical records," explained Ubel. Mario narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

"I am-a Link's doctor during his-a stay here," stated Mario. Ubel narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"You leave me no other choice then," she hissed. She snapped her fingers and two large Spider Drones came in. They looked like large Skulltulla's, but they were, in fact, robots. They were able to stand on their back two legs like a Human. Mario looked toward the door to see his attackers, but he turned too slowly as one of the Spider Drones smacked him all the way across the room, causing Mario to hit the back wall hard enough to make him pass out from the impact. Ubel snickered, then studied the controls of the system. She spotted the large "Abort" button on the upper left hand corner of the panel on the counter and grinned wickedly.

* * *

Fox used his reflector shield to bounce back the arrow that Link had fired at him. Link didn't move in time and got hit, causing his damage meter to go up. The vulpine then darted at Link, leaving ghost images of himself behind. Link quickly put up his shield and successfully blocked the attack. He then did a spin attack while Fox was recovering and knocked his friend back. As the two charged at each other once more, the scenery soon turned into a large, square room about the size of a basketball stadium. The lighting in the room gave the walls and floor a gray tone to them.

"What's going on?" asked Link, confused.

"Mario must have pressed the Abort button, or we took another power hit like last week,"

"I hope it's not the latter of what you just said," groaned Link. "We were stuck in this room for hours before they could get the power back on to operate the door."

"Seriously, whose idea was it to put the mechanical door on a separate circuit breaker?" snickered Fox. Link and Fox laughed a bit, then started walking up the stairs to the exit. They stopped short when they saw the door open on its own and there stood Ubel and her two Spider Drones. "What the--!?"

"Who are you!?" shouted Link, narrowing his eyes and drawing his sword and shield once more. He was getting bad vibes from this woman.

"And where's Mario!?" roared Fox, aiming his blaster at her.

"Temper, temper, you two," chided Ubel calmly. "Is that any way to treat a lady?"

"Just answer the question," growled Fox dangerously. "What have you done with our friend!?" Ubel grinned.

"He's just taking a nap, that's all," she replied. "Now, if you'll step out of the way, I have some business that I need to conduct with your friend there." She gestured to Link.

"What do you want from me?" asked Link, keeping his guard up.

"Actually, I need you to come with me," she spoke as she approached the two men. "My boss, Doctor Spinne, requests your presence."

"He's not going anywhere with you!" barked Fox. He fired a warning shot at Ubel's feet, causing her to stop walking. "Leave now, or I won't miss next time!" Ubel sighed.

"Very well," she resigned. "I will depart…but not before you get acquainted with these fine Spider Drones." Link and Fox both narrowed their eyes more, then jumped out of the way when the two Spider Drones dove into the room. "Do what you want with the fox, but bring me the boy alive!" Link and Fox ran down the stairs to lure the Spider Drones onto the floor.

"I get one, you get one?" asked Link, grinning at Fox. Fox grinned back.

"Just be careful, okay?" warned Fox. "They're after you, not me."

"I don't go down without a fight," boasted Link. Once the drones were upon them, the two let out battle cries and darted at the robotic spiders, attacking them mercilessly. However the two were not doing so well, as they were slowly being backed up against a wall.

"Damn, how do we take these things down!?" cursed Fox. Just then, the lights in the room began to flash red and a loud, deep beeping noise was heard. Link looked up at the window to the control room and saw Mario through it, pressing the alarm button. Link grinned.

"Help is on the way," assured Link. Ubel hissed.

"Just grab him and let's go!" she shouted above the alarm. The drone in front of Fox grabbed him and flung him across the room, then jumped up and attached itself to the ceiling. Link rolled out of the way of the other one and ran towards Fox, who was slowly getting up off the ground. Link didn't quite make it as the drone shot a string of webbing out at Link, which immediately wrapped around the Hylian and caused him to fall onto the ground with a grunt.

"Link!" shouted Fox. He quickly forced himself up and darted toward his downed friend, but was stopped when the other drone dropped down in front of him, blocking his path. He skidded to a stop before he crashed into the drone, then looked above it as the other drone started carrying a struggling Link up the wall. Ubel leapt up into the air and landed on the shoulder of the drone holding Link and grinned at Fox.

"Let go of me!" screamed Link as he tried to get free. He looked down and saw Fox jumping up onto the drone, then jumping off of it and running toward them. "Fox!!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!!" yelled Fox. Ubel grinned and took out what looked like a remote control. She pressed a button on it and the drone behind Fox began to glow brightly. At that moment, Mario ran down the stairs and started firing fireballs at the drone holding Link. Ubel held on tightly as the drone hopped off of the wall and attached itself onto the ceiling, punching a hole into it. As soon as they were on the roof, Ubel cackled loudly and watched Fox and Mario's impending doom. Link looked on in horror as the Spider Drone in the room self-destructed with his friends inside.

"No!! Fox!! Mario!!" he screamed. He struggled more to get free, but his efforts were futile. Ubel hopped off of the drone's shoulder and stood in front of Link, taking out a syringe.

"Sweet dreams, Link," she said coolly. Before Link could protest, she stuck the needle into the nape of Link's neck and injected the liquid into his system. Link cringed as the needle went in. His vision began to turn blurry and he felt dizzy, even though he wasn't moving. His eyelids grew heavy, and he soon lost consciousness, the welfare of his friends the only things on his mind.


	2. Free at Last?

Chapter 2—Free at Last?

Falco, Luigi, Samus, Mewtwo, and Ganondorf were the first to respond to the scene. When they arrived, the first thing they saw was broken glass in the control room and a heavily damaged door. When they ran down the stairs, they saw scrap metal scattered everywhere, char marks on the floor, and an unconscious Mario and Fox. Luigi quickly ran to his brother's side, while Falco ran to Fox's. Samus, Mewtwo, and Ganondorf started investigating what happened.

"Fox! C'mon, wake up!" pleaded Falco, taking Fox into his arms and shaking him a bit. Fox groaned weakly, then slowly opened his eyes, coughing a bit. "Fox! Are you all right?"

"Where…did they go…?" asked Fox.

"Who are you talking about?" interrogated Falco worriedly. "What happened?"

"We…were attacked…" groaned Fox. "A woman…with two big…robotic spiders…"

"Well that explains where this scrap metal's coming from," noted Samus aloud, scanning the pieces of the metal. "From what my scanners picked up, it looks like it had a self-destruct mode to it, and it was activated remotely."

"Your scanners can pick up all of that from pieces of metal?" breathed Ganondorf in amazement. Samus merely nodded.

"Yes. It comes in handy when I'm exploring foreign planets," she stated.

"So only one of them self-destructed?" questioned Mewtwo.

"Yes…" answered Fox. "The other one…and the woman…they took Link…"

"Mama-mia," exhaled Luigi, frowning. "This isn't-a looking good."

"Yeah, and we have no idea who this woman is or where she took him," spat Falco. Luigi sighed, then quickly turned to his brother, who was starting to wake up. "Mario! Are you all-a right-a?"

"Yeah, Luigi…" coughed Mario. "That-a woman…Ubel…"

"Ubel's the name of that woman?" grilled Ganondorf.

"Yeah…" replied Mario. "She works-a for-a this doctor…Spinne, was-a his name…"

"Sounds like we have enough information to start a rescue mission now," announced Samus. Out of all of the Smashers, everyone considered Mario their leader. But since Mario was unable to do anything at the moment, Samus stepped up to the plate and took charge. "Mewtwo: go report to Master Hand what happened and alert the others. Ganondorf: I want you to come with me to help me pinpoint where exactly Link is. Falco: you and Luigi take Fox and Mario to the infirmary."

"There's no need for that," interrupted a soft voice. Everyone turned their heads to the stairs, where Princess Peach and Princess Zelda started walking down with Heart Containers in their hands. "We'll give these to Mario and Fox; they should be feeling better afterwards." Falco and Luigi nodded. They lay Mario and Fox back down on the ground and stepped back. Peach walked over to Mario and gave him her Heart Container while Zelda did the same for Fox. Both injured men soon started feeling much better as their injuries began to heal. Once they were back to full health, they slowly stood up. Zelda suddenly frowned.

"While we were getting the Heart Containers from the item storage, we overheard what happened," she admitted. "I hope Link is okay."

"The sooner we find him, the sooner he will be," stated Samus bluntly. "Zelda, why don't you come with Ganondorf and me to try and find out where he is? Both of you have pieces of the Triforce, and they do react with one another, right?" Ganondorf and Zelda both nodded. "Alright. The rest of you, alert the others."

"I'll-a go tell-a Master Hand," announced Mario.

"I'll go with you," volunteered Fox. Everyone turned to look at each other, nodded, then walked out.

* * *

Once Master Hand was brought up to speed on the day's events, he gathered the remaining Smashers into the lobby for a meeting. Everyone eagerly awaited for Samus, Zelda, and Ganondorf to arrive to tell them where they could find Link. After what seemed like an eternity, the three finally arrived. Samus cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I have some good news and some bad news," reported the bounty hunter. "The good news is we found out where Link is." Everyone's faces brightened up. "He's being held in a robotics factory about twenty miles away from the city out in the countryside."

"What's the bad news?" asked Captain Falcon. Samus frowned.

"All of our means of transportation have been tampered with and are inoperable," she explained. "These guys obviously don't want us to find Link quickly. We're going to have to travel there on foot, which will take us about a day."

"We're going to have to go twenty miles on foot!?" roared Bowser.

"Well…technically, thirty-seven miles," she corrected. "We're about two miles away from the city, which is about fifteen miles wide, and then our destination is twenty miles outside of the city. So…thirty-seven miles." Bowser scowled.

"Count me out!" he shouted.

"Zelda, can't you, Ganondorf, and Mewtwo teleport there?" questioned Marth. Zelda shook her head.

"Farore's Wind can only be used for short distances," admitted the Hylian princess.

"My teleportation works the same way," added Mewtwo.

"I don't want all of the Smashers to go anyway," announced Master Hand. "Mario, I'm putting you in charge of the team." Mario nodded. "You, Fox, Samus, and Ganondorf will be leaving immediately. Good luck."

"Wait, why am I going!?" protested Ganondorf.

"You're one of the most powerful Smashers here," explained Master Hand. "We don't know how strong these two are, so we needed one of our powerhouses to go." Ganondorf grinned.

"Since you put it that way…let's go!" ordered Ganondorf. He walked out the front door with his head held high. Samus cringed a bit as he left. Captain Falcon noticed the change in her expression and walked over.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Samus sighed, shaking her head.

"Other than the fact that the city is in the other direction, nothing," she stated. "I'm going after him." She then promptly walked out, putting her helmet on as she exited through the door. Mario and Fox quickly caught up with her and left as well. Zelda frowned worriedly.

"I hope Link is okay," she breathed.

"Was it wise to send Mario and Fox after they just recovered from their injuries?" questioned Roy. Zelda managed to smile slightly.

"It'll bring Link some joy in knowing that they are alive and well," she answered. She turned to look at the now closed door, her smile fading. "Please come back safely…all of you."

* * *

After catching up with Ganondorf and going in the direction, he, Mario, Samus, and Fox started making their way on foot through the city. They chose a bad time of day to travel on foot, since it was rush hour. The city, Smash City, had a rush hour similar to Tokyo, Japan, where most of the traffic is on foot. The city was created specifically to tailor to the Super Smash Bros. tournaments and contestants. It was also a major tourist attraction throughout the different galaxies and dimensions. Unfortunately for the traveling Smashers, a lot of tourists were there, and they were constantly having to dodge screaming fans that wanted their autographs, slowing down their journey.

They finally made it out of the city sometime after the sun set, completely exhausted. Mario suggested they rest for a little while and eat something to regain their strength. They found a group of trees to hide in somewhere off the road and settled down there. Ganondorf managed to snag everybody some food, which Fox cooked over an open fire for everyone. Normally the others didn't condone stealing, but they were grateful for Ganondorf's wrong doings for once.

Once they regained their strength and filled their bellies, they started down the road again. They made it to their destination at Doctor Spinne's robotics factory very early in the morning when it was still dark. After resting for a few more moments, they made their way into the building, disabling any and all security cameras and devices that they encountered. Fox frowned worriedly as they made their way up the stairs, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Fox, what's-a wrong?" asked Mario.

"Doesn't this seem a little too easy to you guys?" questioned Fox. "It's almost like they wanted us to come here." Mario narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Now that you-a mention it," started the plumber, "I haven't seen a single-a security guard-a." Samus looked around at their surroundings.

"For a robotics factory, the security here is way too lax," she noted. Ganondorf nodded in agreement, then looked down at the back of his right hand. The Triforce of Power began to glow, then faded away.

"Link is just up ahead through those doors," announced Ganondorf. Samus readied her beam cannon while Fox took out his blaster. Mario signaled for everyone to follow him as they made their way to the closed, double doors at the end of the hallway. Ganondorf peaked in through one of the windows on the door and looked inside.

"What do you see?" inquired Fox.

"Link is on a medical table, sleeping," described Ganondorf. "The only light coming from the room is over Link. I can't see much of anything else. I don't sense anyone else in the room."

"This is way too easy," hissed Fox. "It's got to be a trap."

"Keep your-a guard up, everyone," ordered Mario. "Samus, keep on the-a lookout. Fox, you-a and I will storm-a in first. Ganondorf, when-a the coast is clear, take-a Link and we'll-a get out-a of here." The others nodded. Fox kicked open one of the doors and went in first, aiming his blaster around the room. Mario joined Fox at his side and looked around. The two slowly made their way around the room to check for any traps and people. Mario motioned for Samus and Ganondorf to enter the room once the coast was clear. From her spot at the door, she scanned Link over for any abnormalities with her scanner.

"There are no physical injuries on him," she announced. "The scanners are showing that he is the same as he was when he left."

"This looks like a medical laboratory in here," noted Fox. "Either they didn't get a chance to do what they wanted to do with Link yet, or what they did to him isn't being picked up on Samus' scanner." Ganondorf held his right hand over Link. Both his and Link's Triforce pieces reacted to each other, glowing on the backs of their hands, then fading.

"He seems to be okay," added the Gerudo. He carefully picked up Link in his arms, then turned to Mario. "Let's get out of here."

"Ah, it looks like someone came for the boy after all," interrupted a male voice. The four Smashers quickly turned around and faced the man that just entered the room. Mario narrowed his eyes.

"You're-a Doctor Spinne, right?" he interrogated. The man nodded, smiling.

"Indeed, I am," he replied. "I heard from my assistant that four meddling Smashers had entered the building." Ubel then walked up beside the doctor, putting a hand on her right hip and shifting her weight onto her right leg.

"I'm surprised you are still alive, Mario and Fox," proclaimed Ubel. "I figured that explosion would take you out." Fox grinned.

"We don't go down that easily," he boasted. "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be leaving with Link now."

"I'm afraid I can't let you take Link prematurely," contested Spinne calmly. He took out a remote control similar to the one that Ubel kept and pressed a few buttons. A few moments later, a Spider Drone walked up to the room. Ubel and Spinne stepped to the side and out of the room. "If you can defeat this drone, then all five of you may leave. Tah-tah." He then shut the door and walked off with his assistant, leaving the Smashers inside of the room with the Spider Drone.

"Mario, Fox, cover me while I charge up my shot," ordered Samus. Mario and Fox nodded and got in front of her, firing laser shots and fireballs at the Spider Drone, which just stood there. Samus shouted out to the two once her shot was completely charged. Mario and Fox dove out of the way as Samus fired it at the drone, which destroyed it on impact. "Looks like we're free to go now."

"Again, that was way too easy," reminded Fox. "Spinne's got to be up to something if he's letting us take Link out of here this easily."

"Let's-a go back to….Huh?!" cried out Mario as a warning siren started going off and red, flashing lights began to fill the room..

"This building will self-destruct in two minutes," boomed a female voice over the P.A. system.

"Let's get the hell out! Now!" shouted Ganondorf over the siren. The others nodded and darted out of the room, surprised that the door was unlocked. They shot down the stairs and ran out the front doors. They were surprised once they got outside that they saw Samus' space ship waiting for them. Captain Falcon was standing on top of it, waving his arms to grab their attention.

"Get in!" he yelled. Mario and his team didn't have to think twice about that order. They ran over to the space ship and climbed in, with Samus shutting the door behind her once everyone got inside. She ran to the controls and got the space ship to fly off. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once they were in the air.

"We made it," exhaled Mario. Samus put the ship on auto-pilot and stood up, walking over to Captain Falcon. Falcon simply smirked.

"Before you ask," he started, "I activated your ship's auto-repaid function and it fixed itself. I then flew it out here to pick you guys up." Samus nodded, then promptly slapped Falcon across the face. "Ow! What was that for!?"

"Don't touch my ship again," scolded Samus. She punched a few keys on her wrist pad and deactivated her armor, leaving her in her Zero Suit. She then smirked at him. "By the way, thanks for the lift." Falcon just nodded, then sighed.

"I'll never understand women," he groaned.

"Uh, guys?" Fox said, getting everyone's attention. "It's been over three minutes and the building hasn't self-destructed." Everyone blinked in surprise. "They didn't even try to stop us from leaving with Link."

"Speaking of which, he's waking up," interrupted Ganondorf, who was kneeling next to him. Everyone quickly rushed over to his side. Link stirred a bit and slowly opens his eyes. He sat up and rubbed his head, then looked around at everyone.

"Where am I?" he asked. He then saw Mario and Fox and smiled in relief. "Mario! Fox! You're alive!"

"Did you really think we would die that easily?" chuckled Fox, relieved to see his friend doing well. His smile soon faded. "What happened, Link? What did they do to you?" Link blinked.

"I don't know," he replied. "The last thing I remember was being held on the roof of Smash Mansion and that Ubel woman injecting something into my neck. The next thing I know, I'm here with you guys."

"I don't know what she injected into you," admitted Samus. "I wasn't able to pick up anything in the scanners."

"I'll-a run a blood test on-a you when we-a get-a back," proclaimed Mario. Link nodded slightly, acknowledging his request. "You've been gone-a for almost a day." Link frowned.

"I don't know what happened," he admitted. "I wish I did. Right now, I just want to go back to the Smash Mansion." Everyone nodded in agreement. Samus turned her head to the cockpit once she heard a familiar beeping noise.

"Which is exactly where we are," she announced. She stood up and walked over to the controls and manually landed the ship. Once they were on solid ground, they helped Link stand up. Once they saw that he could stand and walk on his own, all six of them exited the ship and went inside their home.


	3. It Begins

Chapter 3: It Begins

Everyone felt completely drained of energy when they returned, so they decided to run the tests on Link the very next day. After the sun rose and they had breakfast, Mario led Link into the clinic, with Fox, Ganondorf, and Zelda following behind. Mario walked over to the storage closet and took out his lab coat, putting it on. Link watched him, then glanced over at Zelda, who sat down in one of the chairs. He then looked at Fox, who was leaning up against the wall next to the medical table. He then turned his attention to Ganondorf, who was leaning against the wall in a corner with his arms crossed with an expressionless face. Link cocked an eyebrow.

"Ganondorf, why are you here?" he asked, a bit suspicious of the Gerudo. Ganondorf glanced at Link, his expression unchanging.

"I just want to make sure the Triforce of Courage hasn't been tampered with," he explained. "That way, when I finally take it from you, it'll be in one piece and with all of its power." Link smirked slightly.

"Right, like you'll be taking that away from me," he snickered. He quickly turned to Mario once he heard the plumber-slash-doctor clear his throat.

"All rightie, Link," said Mario. "I'll-a need you to sit-a down on-a the table." Link nodded, then walked over to the table. He stopped a few feet away from it, tensing up a bit.

Blink.

_He saw the table in a dark laboratory with straps on it._

Blink.

Link was back in reality. He frowned, then looked at Mario.

"I think I'll just sit down in a chair, if that's all right," suggested Link. Mario blinked, then nodded.

"Whatever you're-a most comfortable with," he stated. "Could you-a remove your-a shirt, though? I'll-a be able to check you-a over for any-a abnormalities." Link nodded, then undid his tunic enough so it rested on his hips, keeping his lower half covered (even though he was wearing leggings, they were still a bit revealing). He then removed his gauntlets and white undershirt, exposing his well-toned chest and arms. He sat himself down in a chair. Mario walked over to Link and checked him over. "Well, you-a don't appear to have any-a injuries, but I-a see where Ubel injected her-a needle into you-a initially." He carefully placed two fingers over the nape of Link's neck, where there was a tiny bruise.

"I don't know what she put in me," admitted Link. Mario nodded.

"I'm-a going to take a blood sample from-a you to figure that-a out," he announced. He walked over to a counter and took out a small syringe, which had a tube connecting it to a tiny, cylindrical bottle at the end. He turned around and started walking towards Link. Link noticed the needle and tensed up again.

Blink.

_He saw himself looking up at Spinne, who was holding a syringe with a clear liquid in it._

Blink.

Link backed up into the chair, as if trying to get away from Mario. Mario stopped and noticed the change in Link's behavior.

"Wh-What are going to do with that thing?" asked Link shakily.

"I have to take a blood-a sample from you," repeated Mario. Link turned slightly pale, obviously nervous. Mario smiled comfortingly. "Trust me…"

Blink

_Spinne continued to leer down at Link, grinning wickedly._

_"…I'm a doctor," finished Spinne._

Blink.

Link yelped. He quickly stood up and backed away from Mario, knocking the chair he was sitting in down in the process.

"No! Don't come near me!" shouted the Hylian.

"Link, calm down," pleaded Zelda, standing up from her seat. Mario stopped walking and just stared at Link in disbelief. Link was _afraid_ of him? He just watched as Link backed himself up into a corner and grabbed his head, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Stop…!" he screamed. "Let me go…! Get away from me…!" Fox and Zelda quickly rushed to Link's side. Fox put his hands on Link's shoulders firmly.

"Link, snap out of it!" begged the vulpine. His eyes widened slightly after a moment of realization. "He's trembling…" Ganondorf just watched the scene from his corner. His eyebrows raised a bit once he studied Link further.

"Hold on a minute…" breathed Ganondorf. He made his way over to the group and got a better look at Link. "Guys, look at his arms. Those bruises weren't there a few minutes ago." Everyone blinked and looked at where Ganondorf told them to. Indeed, there were long bruises on his biceps; they looked like they came from some sort of strap. The same marks were on his chest and wrists.

"That's odd…" spoke Mario in a low voice.

"It seems like his injuries return as his memory does," noted Fox.

"Link, what happened?" asked Zelda worriedly. Link just stood there, shaking and gripping his head. "Link! Wake up!" No response. She sighed, then backed off. "I'll go find Mewtwo. Maybe he can read Link's mind and tell us what happened." She then ran out of the clinic to go find the psychic Pokémon.

"Should we still try to get the blood sample from him in this state?" questioned Fox, frowning.

"If he's going to get like this every time he sees a needle," started Ganondorf, "we should probably do it now while he's distracted." Mario frowned, then nodded in agreement.

"Hold him-a firmly," ordered Mario softly. "Make sure I-a have access to his-a right arm." Fox and Ganondorf nodded at each other, then carefully grabbed Link, one on each side. Link started to struggle wildly in their grasp.

"Let me go!!" he screamed.

"Hold still, Link!" yelled Ganondorf. "This is for your own good!" Fox frowned deeply as Link struggled harder.

"Guys, this isn't working!" he noted. "We're scaring him more!" At that moment, Zelda ran in with Mewtwo in tow. Mewtwo made its way over to Link, then placed a hand on the Hylian's head. Link's body quickly relaxed as he passed out. Fox and Ganondorf quickly caught him, but Mewtwo kept its hand on Link's head and closed his eyes.

"If you all will place a hand on me and focus on Link," began Mewtwo, "You will be able to see what happened." The others looked at each other, nodded, then each placed one hand on Mewtwo's arms (Fox and Ganondorf used their other arms to hold Link up) and closed their eyes, bringing their attention to Link.

Flash.

_Link was strapped down a table in a dark laboratory. He was already feeling terrified, and began to feel it even more as Doctor Spinne approached him with a syringe in his hand. He struggled as hard as he could, trying to get free._

_"My assistant has told me that your little friends have come to rescue you," announced the doctor. Link felt hope returning to him. "Since I didn't get a chance to finish what I started with you, I'll just have to wipe your memory of what happened." Link wasn't sure if he was supposed to be relieved or unnerved about Spinne's statement. "Don't think you've seen the last of me, though. I'll be coming back for you once the time is right. But when will that be?" The doctor began to chuckle to himself._

_"You sick bastard…"spat Link. "You won't win!"_

_"Oh ho," snickered Spinne. "It appears you still have some courage left in you despite all of the fear you're feeling. No matter. Once you relieve all of this a second time, that'll surely go away." Link looked at the syringe, then saw the doctor slowly bring it closer to his neck, as if taunting him. "Until we meet again…" Link began to panic; if his friends were in the building, they could surely hear him. Link parted his lips, but Spinne quickly clamped his free hand over Link's mouth to muffle his screams, as if he knew Link was going to try that._

"_Stop! Let me go! Get away from me!" screamed Link in his mind as he struggled even more. Spinne stuck the needle into Link's neck, injecting the clear liquid into his system. Link felt himself grow weak as his vision began to fade to darkness. Soon, his world went black._

Flash.

Everyone opened their eyes, then looked at the unconscious Link. Fox quickly scowled.

"No wonder it was so easy for us to get Link out of there," he growled. "This was all part of his plan, and we fell for it!"

"He wants Link's courage eliminated from him for some reason," muttered Zelda. "But what that reason is, I'm not sure. We still don't know all of what happened to him."

"I cannot see what he cannot remember," admitted Mewtwo. Zelda's eyes drifted over to the back of Link's left hand, causing her eyes to widen a bit.

"Ganondorf, look!" she cried out. Ganondorf blinked and looked at the back of Link's hand as well. The Triforce of Courage began to glow, but its glow was not as strong as it had been in the past. The symbol then faded from the back of his hand. Ganondorf narrowed his eyes.

"Link is slowly losing his courage as he's remembering what happened to him," he hissed. "Spinne will definitely succeed at this rate, because not only will Link be afraid of what happened to him, but he'll be afraid of Spinne's inevitable return, and he'll be afraid of going back with him. This guy is smart—he planned this all out extremely well."

"We can't let-a him win!" protested Mario.

"Mario, I suggest you get that blood sample now while Link is unconscious," interrupted Mewtwo. Mario nodded, then grabbed his needle again. Zelda took Link's right arm and held it steady as Mario stuck the needle into the middle of Link's arm, taking a sample of the Hylian's blood. Once that was completed, Ganondorf picked Link up and carried him to one of the beds in the clinics, lying him down on it. Zelda walked over and tucked Link in, giving him a maternal kiss on the forehead.


	4. A Son Scorned

Chapter 4—A Son Scorned

After a long night, Link seemed to be acting like his usual self. Mario locked himself in the clinic to figure out what was put into Link's system with the blood sample that he got, with Luigi and Peach helping him out in any way that they could. Zelda had pulled an all-nighter staying up to watch over Link, so as soon as Link was up and about, she went into her room and slept for the entire morning and part of the afternoon.

Ganondorf decided that he wanted to do some training to help clear his head. As he made his way down the hallway toward the battle room, his usual emotionless expression soon turned into one of disdain. For some reason, the whole situation with Link was getting to him, and the fact that it was bothered him.

"He's my enemy," he grumbled to himself. "Why should I care what happens to him? I'd rather see him dead with his piece of the Triforce in my hands." He paused for a moment to punch the wall to his left, leaving an indentation where his fist landed. He sighed, then continued his way to the battle room. As soon as he opened the door, he scowled when he saw Fox standing at the controls. "Crap, looks like I have to wait." Fox's ears twitched when he heard Ganondorf speak to himself and he looked over his shoulder.

"Waiting to get some training in?" asked Fox curiously. Ganondorf scowled and nodded, walking fully into the room. Fox then looked out the window to watch Link go through one of the stages. "Link's doing Adventure Mode right now. It seems to be helping him take his mind off of things." Ganondorf nodded. "It's also giving me a chance to see if his performance has changed at all due to the incident with Spinne."

"How's he doing?" interrogated Ganondorf, standing next to Fox.

"He's getting ready to do the Hyrule stages," started Fox, "so he should be feeling right at home." Fox then looked at Ganondorf curiously. "Why do you care?" Ganondorf's face contorted a bit.

"I don't," huffed the Gerudo. "I just want to know when he'll be done so I can get in there." Fox knew better than to push issues further with people like Ganondorf. He just shrugged and watched Link start the Underground Maze. His eyes furrowed a bit once he paid closer attention to Link's movements.

"He's not going his usual route," noted Fox with concern. Ganondorf blinked and watched as well. "He's avoiding the ReDeads instead of taking them out like he usually does."

"Odd…" breathed Ganondorf. The two continued to watch Link as he delved deeper. Link had no problems fighting against his clones, nor did he have a problem with killing off Like-Like's and Octoroks. Things soon took a turn for the worse when he started going down a hallway with three ReDeads on it. He skidded to a halt and his eyes widened in horror once he spotted the three. He backed away from the ReDeads, which were slowly approaching him. Link felt himself back into a wall. While he had the option of jumping up onto the platforms and escaping, he was too struck with fear to do anything. As the ReDeads drew closer, he dropped his sword and shield, grabbed his head, and screamed loudly, falling to his knees and shutting his eyes tightly.

"Oh shit…Abort! Abort!" shouted Fox. Ganondorf didn't have to be told what to do: he immediately hit the Abort button as Fox started shouting. The two quickly opened the door and ran down the stairs to Link. Fox knelt down next to Link while Ganondorf knelt down in front of him. "Link!! What happened?? What's wrong??"

"ReDeads…everywhere…" spoke Link shakily. His body was visibly trembling and his skin was sheet white. "Dozens of them…screaming…grabbing at me…ripping at my clothes…clawing at me…I couldn't move…" Fox noticed how tightly Link was holding his hair. He grabbed Link's right wrist.

"Link, you're going to pull your hair out if you keep doing that," mentioned Fox. Link quickly retracted his wrists, cringing a bit. Ganondorf narrowed his eyes a bit.

"What's wrong with your wrists?" he interrogated.

"They were bound…" choked Link. "I was tied to a pole…I couldn't move…I couldn't get away…" Link then hugged himself, still shaking with his head lowered, his bangs hiding his frightened eyes. Ganondorf studied Link for a moment.

Blink.

_Ganondorf saw himself as a small child in the same position, hugging himself, shaking._

Blink.

Ganondorf was looking at Link again. He narrowed his eyes once more.

"Fox, go get Mewtwo," he ordered quietly. Fox blinked.

"You want me to go?" asked Fox. Ganondorf snapped his head in Fox's direction.

"Are you questioning me!?" roared the Gerudo. "Go! Now!" Fox quickly nodded and stood up, running out of the room. Ganondorf watched Fox go, then turned back to Link. After a few moments, he shut his eyes.

Flash.

_He ran into the Gerudo Fortress, sobbing. He ran past the Gerudo guards, who merely stepped out of the way for him, not asking what the matter was with their prince. He eventually made it into the makeshift throne room of the fortress, where his surrogate mothers, Koume and Kotake, were sitting, chit-chatting with each other. He skittered up to them._

_"Mama Koume!" he cried. "Mama Kotake!" The sisters looked at the small Ganondorf, who was no older than five-years-old._

_"What is it, Ganny?" asked Kotake, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Ganondorf held up his scraped arm, sniffing._

_"You're crying over that little thing??" yapped Koume. "You're the future King of the Gerudos! How would the others feel if they saw their future ruler crying over a small scrape like that!?"_

_"It hurts," whined Ganondorf._

_"Stop your crying," ordered Kotake. "You must set an example for the others, and you must be strong. The Gerudos can't have a weak leader, now can they?" Ganondorf just sniffed and ran out of the room. He ran out into the hallway and hid behind some crates. He got down onto his knees and hugged himself, offering himself some comfort. He fought back from crying anymore tears and just stared at the ground, emotionless._

Flash.

Ganondorf opened his eyes and frowned at Link.

"No wonder this has been eating at me," he muttered to himself. "He's reminding me of myself when I was a child." He looked around to make sure absolutely no one was looking, then looked back at Link, gently placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. Link looked up at Ganondorf quickly, the sudden movement startling him. Ganondorf looked into Link's frightened eyes and could tell that Link, too, was fighting back tears, just like Ganondorf had all those years ago. The Gerudo then did the unexpected; he pulled Link into a comforting hug, like a father would to a son. "Let it out, Link. Nobody's watching."

"Why?" questioned Link, obviously confused. "Why are you doing this for me? I thought you…"

"I still don't like you," assured Ganondorf. "But the kind of pain and torture Spinne is putting you through is a low that even I wouldn't dare reach. I'm a tyrant, not a psychopath. Yes, I may try to kill you and Zelda when we're in Hyrule, but know that I would never…ever put you two or anybody else in Hyrule through something this disgusting." Ganondorf blinked when he felt Link cling to what he could of Ganondorf's clothing and armor and buried his face into the Gerudo's shoulder. He felt Link quiver in his arms and could hear him break down into loud sobs. Ganondorf sighed and closed his eyes, hugging Link a bit tighter, letting the boy know that he's not going anywhere. "I'm not going to let him get you…I promise." Ganondorf's attention quickly went to the set of footsteps he heard on the stairs coming down into the room. He tensed up once he saw Fox and Mewtwo, who had frozen in their spots to see the position Ganondorf and Link were in.

"Are you…comforting him?" breathed Fox, bewildered. Ganondorf scowled, looking back down at the sobbing Link. Fox walked over and knelt down next to the two, Mewtwo standing behind him. Fox smiled a bit. "Now I know why you sent me out of the room."

"Is Mewtwo going to read his mind or not?" interrupted Ganondorf. Mewtwo got on the other side of Link and placed a hand gently on his head. After a few moments, Ganondorf felt Link slowly go limp in his arms, falling asleep. It kept its hand on Link's head and looked at Fox and Ganondorf.

"You know what to do if you want to witness what happened," announced Mewtwo. The two nodded and placed their hands on Mewtwo's arm, closing their eyes and focusing on Link.

Flash.

_Link was dragged into a large, circular room with a domed ceiling by a Spider Drone, another one following behind. The one holding Link slammed him into a pole back first and held him there while the other drone tightly bound Link's wrists behind the pole, then tightly tied another rope around Link's upper body to the pole. Link struggled the entire time, doing what he could to escape, but to no avail. The ropes were tied so tightly that they were cutting off some of the circulation in Link's arms. The drones, with their tasks completed, exited the room and shut the door behind them. Link looked ahead of him to see Spinne and Ubel through a window leading into a control room where they resided. Spinne turned on a microphone and spoke into it._

_"I've been studying your history, Link," admitted the doctor. "You're quite the courageous young man. I'm not surprised, though, since you do hold the Triforce of Courage within you." Link simply glared at the man._

_"I won't break!" protested Link. "I'll do all that's in my power to keep you from succeeding with your plan!" Spinne laughed, which sent chills down Link's spine._

_"You've already been softened up already, even before you got here," explained Spinne. "And I know that you can't resist what's about to come up." Link heard a buzzer go off, then the lights went completely out. A bright light came back on directly above Link's head, letting Link see about ten feet in front of him. He gasped when he heard the familiar moaning of a ReDead. His eyes slowly widened as he heard more and more moaning. He knew there were at least five in the room, and they were getting louder. Soon, they started coming towards him, walking ever so slowly. Link could see them walking into the light. His eyes darted from left to right, scanning what he could see. Already he could see eight coming, and he heard the dragging feet of more coming from behind him and to his sides where he couldn't see. His skin turned sheet white as he saw double of what he already saw coming up behind the first row of ReDeads. As they got closer to Link, one after the other they let out paralyzing screams. Link felt his heart pounding quickly and his body shake._

_"Oh Gods, they're everywhere…" said Link, barely able to speak with his shaky voice. They started getting closer and closer to him, their paralyzing screams continuing. The look of sheer horror filled Link's face as ReDeads started grabbing at him, ripping at his clothes on his upper body, trying to get at his flesh. Scratches started forming on Link's pale skin, and the ropes binding him started leaving rope burns and bruises where they touched his skin. "Stop!! Let go of me!! Leave me alone!!" Link completely forgot where he was; all that was on his mind was to get out of there before the ReDeads killed him. Link couldn't move at all; he was completely helpless, and he knew it. Tears started pouring down his cheeks as a couple of ReDeads completely latched onto him and were ready to bite down on his skin to suck the life out of him. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"_

_"Yes!" exclaimed Spinne through the microphone. He pressed the Abort button and all of the lights turned back on, the ReDeads disappearing. Link felt his legs give out under him as he collapsed onto his knees, still tied to the pole. He lowered his head and broke down into uncontrollable tears. Through his sobs, he didn't hear Spinne open the door and enter the room, walking up to Link. He knelt down in front of the Hylian and cupped his hand underneath Link's chin, tilting his head up to look at the doctor. Spinne grinned wickedly when he saw how terrified Link was. "Yes…I knew you broke when you cried out for help. You're like putty in my hands now." He let go of Link's face to let Link's head drop down again. Link didn't even want to look at Spinne anymore. Spinne leaned to the side a bit to catch a glimpse of the back of Link's hand, where the Triforce of Courage gave off a weak glow, then faded. "You're not quite ready for me to use yet…once I get you to show more fear, then you will be ready." He then stood up and walked out of the room. Link just continued to sob._

_"Please…somebody help me…" cried Link weakly._

Flash.

Fox and Ganondorf's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed simultaneously.

"That bastard…" growled Fox. "This guy makes even Andross look normal."

"We were correct in assuming that Spinne wanted to frighten Link for some reason," explained Mewtwo. "Link apparently knew what that reason was before dealing with the ReDeads."

"Were you able to figure out what it was?" inquired Fox.

"As I have said earlier," started Mewtwo, "I cannot see what Link cannot remember. If he can't remember what Spinne's ultimate plans are, then we have no way of knowing until he does, or until Spinne comes back for Link."

"He's not going to get Link back," vowed Ganondorf. He looked down at the ground, subconsciously pulling the sleeping Link closer to himself as if he were protecting a small child. "I'll personally make sure of that."

* * *

Thank you to Zelda Rockbell and bijoukaiba for leaving me reviews on my stories. I'm glad you guys are liking it so much! To the rest of you...please review! I'd like to know how I'm doing, especially if it's something that I can work on and correct in the future to improve my writing. 


	5. Eyes Watching

Chapter 5—Eyes Watching

Ganondorf didn't sleep a wink that night. He stood guard inside of Link's room and watched the boy sleep. As Link slept, Ganondorf was able to inspect Link's body further. Link's wrists were heavily bruised from being bound by ropes, and where the ropes were tied around his upper body on his arms, chest, and back, the same marks were there. Dozens of scratches of varying depths were everywhere on his upper body, excluding his face and neck.

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes as he watched Link clutch his pillow tightly and whimper a bit in his sleep. He held his hand out hesitantly for a few moments, then slowly and gently placed his hand on Link's head. This seemed to calm Link down, and the Hylian was able to go back to sleep peacefully. Ganondorf sighed in relief when he pulled his hand away. He suddenly tensed up when he heard the door knock. He made his way to it and opened it a crack to see who it was. He opened it all the way when he realized that it was Mario who had knocked.

"Keep it down, he's sleeping," ordered Ganondorf quietly.

"I have-a the results of the-a blood tests," whispered Mario. Ganondorf looked at Link, then looked back at Mario, nodding. Mario cleared his throat softly. "He had small traces of anesthesia in his blood. Nothing else abnormal was in there, not even anything that would erase his memory." Ganondorf narrowed his eyes again.

"So what you're saying is Link's memory was wiped out through other means?" he asked. Mario nodded. The Gerudo then scowled. "And we have no way of knowing how he did it since Link was unconscious for it." Mario nodded again slowly. Ganondorf sighed. "Why are you even telling me this?"

"Fox explained-a to me what-a you did for-a Link," started Mario, "and he-a told me that-a you were watching over him while-a he-a sleeps." Ganondorf's face contorted a bit as he turned his head away. Mario tilted his head to the side a bit. "You don't have to-a feel ashamed."

"I have my own reasons for protecting him," admitted Ganondorf. "And they're not out of the goodness of my heart." Mario just smiled slightly.

"Whatever your-a reasons are, thank-a you," said the plumber. Ganondorf just nodded, then closed the door without saying good-night to Mario. He turned around and walked over to Link's bedside, sitting down in a chair. He spent the rest of the night watching Link, never taking his eyes off of him.

* * *

The next day, Link had calmed down quite a bit, but he was still downtrodden about the whole ordeal and was visibly paranoid. Roy managed to talk Link into playing some Halo 2 with him, Marth, and Captain Falcon. Ganondorf, wanting to make sure Spinne didn't show up while he was gone, sat down and watched the four play. He watched as Link appeared a bit timid at first, then gradually began to enjoy himself as the game went on.

"Ha ha! Head shot!" laughed Captain Falcon.

"Yeah yeah, you got lucky," grumbled Marth, rolling his eyes. His eyes then widened a bit, then narrowed. "Oh no, no! Stop that!"

"Teabag!" guffawed Roy. Captain Falcon laughed maniacally as he made his character teabag Marth's. Roy's laughter intensified when Captain Falcon got stabbed from behind with a sword. "Owned!"

"What the--!? Link!?" roared Falcon.

"Shank!" laughed Link. Ganondorf smirked, watching Link enjoying himself. He then furrowed his eyes a bit.

"Isn't it a bit blasphemous of us to be playing a non-Nintendo game on a non-Nintendo system?" questioned the Gerudo.

"I don't think so," answered Samus as she walked into the room, overhearing the conversation. "I heard that for next year's tournament, we'd be getting some third-party people joining us." Link shrugged, then looked down on the ground briefly, then stared at a quarter-sized, dark gray spider on the floor. His eyes widened a bit and he scooted further back onto the ground, pulling his feet up onto it.

"Holy Farore, that thing's huge!" yelped Link. Captain Falcon looked at the spider on the floor and sighed.

"It's a spider, Link," said the F-Zero racer, sounding annoyed. "You've killed things much bigger than this in your world." Ganondorf looked at Link.

"You're remembering the Spider Drones again, aren't you?" he asked. Link shook his head, which made Ganondorf's eyes narrow. Marth stood up and walked over to the spider, stomping on it. A loud, crunching noise was emitted from the spider upon impact with Marth's boot. Marth cringed and turned a bit pale.

"I felt that one," groaned the prince. Roy cringed as well, looking at Marth's foot.

"Are spiders supposed to go 'crunch' like that when you kill them?" he questioned.

"Not ones that size," answered Marth. He slowly lifted up his foot and looked down at what used to be the spider. Tiny sparks shot out from the spider's body. "They're not supposed to spark like that, either."

"Hold on a minute," ordered Samus. She walked over to the spider and scanned its body. "That wasn't a spider…that was a robot; the same technology that Spinne used on the Spider Drones. This one had a tiny camera inside of it, and whatever the spider saw, Spinne saw it, too." Link just stared at the remains of the tiny Spider Drone for a few moments. He lifted his eyes, then gasped when he saw another spider on the wall, then another on the ceiling, then a few more on the ground. He backed himself up further into the couch, bringing his legs up to his chest as if to make himself seem smaller. His eyes were as wide as saucers and his skin quickly turned pale.

"He's watching me," whimpered Link, his voice shaking as much as his body was. "He's watching my every move."

"Calm down, Link," spoke Roy. "If he sees you freak out like this, you're letting him win." Ganondorf stood up and stomped on the spiders that were on the ground, then reached up and punched the one on the ceiling (the ceiling was only eight feet high). He approached the one on the wall and grabbed it in his hand.

"He's not going to see Link. Period," growled Ganondorf. He looked down at the spider. "And you're not going to win, either, Spinne." He then crushed the spider in his hand, letting the pieces of metal and wire fall down onto the ground.

* * *

As the rest of the Smashers inspected the entire mansion to locate more spiders, Ganondorf, Peach, and Zelda remained with Link to watch over him and try to comfort him. Ganondorf noticed the Triforce on the back of Link's hand glow very faintly, then disappear. He narrowed his eyes, then looked back at Link.

"You mentioned earlier that you weren't remembering the Spider Drones," noted Ganondorf. "What were you remembering?" Link frowned, lowering his eyes.

"When I first woke up at that place," explained Link softly. "I opened my eyes and I was stuck on a web; I couldn't move at all. There was a bright light above me, but when I looked around, the rest of the place was dark. The next things I saw were three giant spiders, larger than Skulltullas. All three of them were coming towards me quickly, then before I knew it, they were right on top of me. They lowered their fangs to try and eat me. They almost bit me, but Spinne came in and ordered them to stop." Link took a deep breath, then exhaled shakily. "He said he needed total fear from a courageous person to power something."

"Did he say what for?" asked Peach. Link shook his head solemnly. Zelda frowned.

"And he chose you because you have the Triforce of Courage?" interrogated Zelda worriedly. Link nodded slightly.

"He said that fear from a person with a lot of courage is more powerful than fear from a normal person," he added.

"So your fear would be more powerful than the fear from someone like…oh, say…Luigi?" grilled Ganondorf. Peach shot Ganondorf a mean look, which quickly melted into one of concern when she looked back at Link. Link nodded again slightly. He rested his hands on his elbows and looked down at the ground.

"Going through what I did was hard enough," admitted Link. "Reliving it twice…Spinne was right, it was worse…I feel horrible for being so afraid of him…I feel ashamed for even feeling this way." Zelda gently placed her hand on Link's shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't," she said maternally. "What you went through was truly horrifying. You shouldn't be ashamed for feeling the way that you do." Link looked at her, then looked at Peach, who placed her hand on Link's other shoulder.

"We're here for you, Link," assured the princess. "We'll be here to help you regain your courage every step of the way." Link stared at her for a moment, then looked at Ganondorf, who walked up to him and stood in front of him with his arms crossed across his chest.

"And we'll make sure that Spinne doesn't get near you ever again," pledged Ganondorf. Link looked up at the Gerudo, then at the princesses. Link managed a small smile.

"Thank you…all of you," said Link.


	6. Revelations

Chapter 6—Revelations

Samus sat in front of her laptop at the kitchen table with a cup of double-brewed coffee next to her computer. It was almost evening, but she hadn't gotten any sleep at all since the previous day with the tiny Spider Drones incident. Everyone had uncovered over five dozen spiders throughout the entire mansion. This news greatly worried everyone, especially Link. Samus had to figure out what Spinne's great plan was and soon, otherwise it would be too late to stop him. She spent hours in front of her laptop, searching for anything and everything about Doctor Spinne on the internet. Her attention slipped when she spotted Ganondorf walking into the kitchen through the corner of her eye.

"I thought you were with Link," questioned Samus suspiciously. Ganondorf yawned, getting himself some coffee.

"Fox is standing guard outside of Link's door right now while I take a break," explained the Gerudo. "He told me to take a nap or something, but I just need some coffee."

"You haven't slept in the past few days, have you?" asked Samus. Ganondorf shrugged.

"I don't really need to sleep," he said. He glanced at the coffee mug next to Samus's laptop. "Apparently, neither do you."

"I do, but I can't get to sleep," admitted Samus. "Not until I find out what exactly Spinne is planning." Ganondorf poured the coffee into his mug, then walked over to the table and sat down. "So far, I'm not finding anything."

"I highly doubt he's going to post his plan on the internet," yawned Ganondorf. He took a sip of his coffee, then set his mug down. Samus sighed and went back to surfing the web. After about ten minutes of complete silence, Samus' eyes widened slightly.

"I found something!" she gasped. Ganondorf quickly got up and stood behind Samus, looking over her shoulder. "Doctor Zauber Spinne, a former mechanical engineering professor at the University of Hochschule, located in the country of Gegend on the planet Erde, created his Spider Drones as tools that the government could use during a war they were having with the country of Boxen. The government ended up not using the drones due to the fact that a truce was made between Gegend and Boxen. When Spinne tried to get back at the government with his Spider Drones, a warrant was made for his arrest. Spinne escaped from the planet with his assistant, Ubel Mitarbeiter."

"Sounds like this guy's been psychotic from the start," noted Ganondorf. "Where did you find that?"

"I spotted his name on the Most Wanted list on the Intergalactic Government Database and hacked into the system to get more information," admitted Samus, grinning a bit. Ganondorf grinned as well, but his grin soon faded into a scowl.

"So it sounds like this guy is out for revenge against Gegend's government," he hypothesized. "But why come here to this planet if his target is elsewhere?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," replied Samus. "Unfortunately, they have no records of him past 1997 Earth Time, which is when he was exiled, and from what Link has told us, Spinne didn't tell him why he needs Link's fear. My only guess is that if his plan is centered around fear from a courageous person, he wanted to come here knowing that various heroes and villains alike would be participating in the Smash Bros. Tournament."

"Where is Erde anyway?" pondered Ganondorf.

"In this galaxy, actually," responded Samus. "Erde neighbors this planet and is a three day journey from here in the Great Fox. It would take a week in my spaceship." Ganondorf nodded slightly. Samus sipped her coffee, then thought for a few moments. "If we can get a hold of the Intergalactic Space Station and tell them where Spinne and Ubel are, they could come and arrest him, which would save us a whole lot of trouble."

"I'd rather kill him, personally," retorted Ganondorf. "A man as sick and demented as he is doesn't deserve to live…not after what he did."

"I'm still shocked at how supportive and protective you've been of Link as of late," stated Samus. "Before, you could care less about what happened to him, or you were trying to find ways to kill him yourself. Now you hardly take your eyes off of him and have vowed revenge on Spinne for hurting Link. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"For the last time, I haven't had a change of heart," sighed Ganondorf, annoyed. "I don't like what Spinne has done, and if Link loses all of his courage, the Triforce of Courage may leave his body and disappear somewhere, which would hinder my plans of eventually getting that piece for myself."

"So you're comforting Link and acting like a protective father to him to eventually have your way," concluded Samus, sounding skeptical. Ganondorf looked at her without expression, while she gave him a suspicious look. "Your logic eludes me." She shrugged and stood up, finishing her coffee. She then walked over to the phone, picked it up, and began to push the keys on it. "Whatever. I'm going to see if I can get a hold of the Intergalactic Space Station and tell them…" Her sentence was cut short when she and Ganondorf heard a small explosion outside. Ganondorf ran to the window to look and see what happened, his eyes widening slightly at the scene. The telephone line was on the ground and on fire.

"Oh Din," uttered Ganondorf. "I think you can forget making that call." Samus put the phone up to her ear and heard nothing. She scowled and hung up the phone, rushing to the window, as well. Their eyes widened even more once they saw a second small explosion outside. This time, it was the power lines that got hit. They stood there as all of the lights in the mansion went out. Ganondorf turned around and spotted two spiders rushing across the floor. He darted over to them and stomped on both of them. He lifted his foot up to assess the damage and his eyes widened once more. "Samus! There was another Spider Drone that we missed!"

"He must have found out that we were going to turn him in," hissed Samus. "You were right, this guy is really smart. If he was able to find out about what I was going to do that quickly…" Ganondorf's eyes widened even more.

"Oh shit…Link!"

* * *

Fox was lying on his back on Link's bed with his legs dangling off the edge as he stared at the ceiling. Link was taking a shower and had asked Fox to stay nearby just in case something happened, not wanting to take any chances. Fox completely agreed with him and decided to hang out in Link's room and wait. He quickly sat up when the power went out, startled. He jumped a bit when he heard a loud bang from the bathroom, followed by Link swearing quite loudly to himself.

"Link! Are you all right!?" asked Fox.

"Ooww…yeah, I'm fine," assured Link. "I just slipped, that's all." Link turned the water off and pushed himself up, searching for his towel in the darkness. "What the hell just happened?"

"We took a power hit," explained Fox.

"I can't see a thing," replied Link. "Could you grab my flashlight? It's on my nightstand." Fox nodded, then grabbed the flashlight and stood up, walking over to the bathroom door. Link opened the door slightly and stuck his hand out. Fox placed the flashlight in his hand, then watched Link pull it in and shut the door. A few moments later, he stepped out of the bathroom wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, towel drying his hair. All of the injuries he sustained from his ordeal with Spinne were fully exposed, making Fox frown deeply. "Is there a storm outside?"

"I heard two small explosions outside," admitted Fox. "I didn't see any lightning, though." Link frowned worriedly, then cursed to himself once the light in his flashlight died. Fox's ears twitched as his attention turned to the door. "Someone's in the hallway. I'm going to check it out. You wait here." Link nodded as Fox took out his blaster, placing his finger on the trigger. He cautiously opened the door, then poked his head out into the hallway. He saw a large figure racing down the hallway towards the room. Fox leapt out into the hallway and aimed his blaster at the figure. "Freeze!!" Fox didn't get a chance to shoot as the figure skidded to a halt, tripped, and crashed into the vulpine, causing both to topple onto the ground.

"Oof!" coughed the figure. "Watch where you're standing!" Fox blinked.

"Ganondorf?" inquired Fox. Ganondorf pushed himself up into a kneeling position, rubbing his head. Fox sat up and rubbed his back. Up close, he was able to make out Ganondorf's features. Link opened the door slightly, looking into the hallway.

"Are you two okay?" he asked. Ganondorf and Fox looked at Link, then simultaneously nodded. Link exhaled.

"That's a relief," he sighed. Link's door suddenly slammed shut on its own, startling all three of the men. Ganondorf and Fox quickly got up as Link tried to open the door. His efforts became more frantic with each try. Fox and Ganondorf tried opening the door on their end, becoming just as frantic as Link was. Link suddenly felt chills go up his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he heard footsteps appear behind him.

"Hello, Link," greeted an all too familiar voice. Link's eyes widened in horror and all of the color left his skin as his body began to visibly tremble. He quickly turned around and screamed loudly when he saw Spinne walking out of a dark portal with a cruel, wicked smile on his face.

* * *

Wow, I'm really surprised by how many reviews I've gotten recently, and how good they are! Thank you all so much! I've never written a horror fanfic before, and I'm glad to know that I'm apparently doing a good job. Once again, thank you! You'll be getting Chapter 7 soon! 


	7. Courage's Hour of Need

Chapter 7—Courage's Hour of Need

Link backed up against the door, breathing rapidly. Spinne chuckled to himself, then looked at the back of Link's hand. The Triforce of Courage's glow was barely visible before it disappeared. Spinne chuckled more.

"I see you're just about prime for me to use in my plan," he commented.

"Why are you even doing this!?" shouted Link. Spinne narrowed his eyes.

"Still resilient, aren't we?" he questioned. He sighed and shook his head, then smirked a bit. "If you must know…I've created a machine that utilizes the power of fear to generate power for a highly destructive laser. The amount of damage it will cause upon impact is equivalent to that of a large bomb being dropped onto that area. I plan on using that laser to destroy the government of Gegend. I'll show them who the useless ones are…." Link just stared at him in shock. His eyes soon narrowed as he glared at Spinne.

"So you're using my fear to destroy lives!?" roared the Hylian. He clenched his fists tightly in anger. Spinne blinked at this sudden change, then looked at the back of Link's hand, where the Triforce of Courage began to glow a bit brighter than it had a few minutes earlier. "I'm not going to let that happen! I refuse to be a tool to kill innocent people!"

"Your courage is returning," noted Spinne. He slowly began to approach Link, becoming more intimidating with each step. "We can't have that, now can we?" Link realized that he was still backed up against his door. He looked over his shoulder at it after hearing Fox and Ganondorf out in the hallway. As soon as Spinne was close enough, Link dove out of the way right as the door was knocked down right on top of the doctor. Ganondorf and Fox quickly rushed in and got in front of Link.

"Are you okay?" asked Fox. Link just nodded.

"We're not letting him take you anywhere," assured Ganondorf, not taking his narrowed eyes off of Spinne, who pushed himself up from underneath the fallen door. "How did he get into here in the first place!?"

"A portal," answered Link. Ganondorf's eyes narrowed even more.

"So that explains how your memory was wiped out," stated the Gerudo. "He's able to use magic." Spinne began to chuckle, which quickly grew into loud, maniacal laughter.

"So you've just figured that out!?" taunted the man. "Then you'll be shocked when you see this!" He held his hands out and formed a large ball of dark magic in front of them, then quickly fired it at the three. Fox got in front of Ganondorf and Link and turned on his reflector, making the attack bounce back at Spinne. Spinne ducked as the blast forced its way through Link's wall, heavily damaging it. Spinne grinned, then formed another blast. Fox grinned as well.

"You don't need a Ph. D. to know what the result of that is going to be," noted the vulpine.

"You're right, I don't," agreed Spinne. He fired the blast as Fox turned his reflector on. The blast hit the reflector, but it didn't bounce back. Fox's eyes widened when the blast went through the reflector, hit Fox, and caused him to go flying backwards into the back wall, crying out in pain. He hit the wall with enough force to go through the wall into the next room. The force of the impact knocked Fox out, leaving him sprawled out partially underneath the rubble.

"Fox!!" cried out Link. Ganondorf looked over his shoulder at Fox's body, then glared once more at Spinne hatefully.

"Link, get behind me," ordered the Gerudo quietly. Link looked at Ganondorf, then back at Fox. If Spinne's magic was able to bypass Fox's reflector, then who knew what else Spinne had up his sleeves? Link, not wanting to take any chances, nodded slightly and got behind Ganondorf. Ganondorf charged up dark magic into his right hand as he prepared a Warlock Punch. Spinne chuckled, then quickly darted at the Gerudo. Ganondorf punched Spinne in the stomach, making a direct hit. Spinne's eyes widened as he coughed, getting the wind knocked out of him. He held on tightly to Ganondorf's arm so he wouldn't be thrown back by the impact, which actually hurt Spinne more. He coughed a bit, then looked at Ganondorf evenly in the eyes, slowly grinning wickedly. Ganondorf studied him, then looked down at Spinne's sides. Slowly, four arms—two on each side—began to form on his sides. Ganondorf gasped a bit once the four free hands latched onto his body tightly. Spinne firmly planted his feet on the ground, then charged his hands up with dark magic. With the help of his magic, he was able to spin Ganondorf around and throw him through the wall next to Fox, destroying that wall and knocking Ganondorf out. Link's eyes widened in horror at the sight, then before he knew it, Spinne was standing directly in front of him. Despite his fear of the man, Link rammed his elbow into the temple of Spinne's head, knocking the monster down onto the ground, stunned. Link quickly ran to where Fox and Ganondorf lay, trying to make sure if they were okay.

"Fox! Ganondorf!" shouted Link. "C'mon, wake up! Please! I'm begging you!" He tried shaking them awake, but his efforts were futile. He looked over his shoulder and saw Spinne standing directly above him, leering down at him. Spinne was about to grab the boy when he heard the sound of a gun being pointed at him. He froze, then turned his head slowly to look at who it was that was threatening him. Link looked as well, feeling some sort of relief. "Samus!"

"Ah, if it isn't Samus Aran," greeted Spinne. "I must say, I'm very impressed with how you were able to figure me out so well."

"Doctor Zauber Spinne," started Samus, "With the power invested in me as a bounty hunter and on behalf of the Intergalactic Government, I'm placing you under arrest for high treason, kidnapping, and attempted murder." Spinne chuckled deeply, then slowly turned to face her. Samus tensed up underneath her armor once she saw his multiple arms, but she stood her ground.

"Miss Aran, do you see the state that your friends here are in?" grilled Spinne. Samus glanced at Fox and Ganondorf's bodies, then back at Spinne. "You will share this same fate if you don't put your weapon down."

"You'll be dead if you don't step away from my friends," threatened Samus. Link chose this time to put some distance between him and Spinne while Samus was distracting the doctor. Spinne caught onto this before Link could even more and grabbed the boy, holding him tightly with his four lower arms, pinning Link's arms to his sides. Spinne clamped his fifth hand over Link's mouth to keep him from screaming out for more help. Samus was about to fire a shot as Spinne was apprehending Link, but quickly stopped once he pulled out a gun with his sixth hand and held it up against Link's head. "Let him go!"

"Unfortunately, my dear, I can't do that," apologized Spinne in a cruel way. "I need him now more than ever." Link looked at Samus with frightened, pleading eyes, begging for her to help him. Samus felt sweat drip down her face underneath her armor. She had dealt with various different dire situations in her live, but never had she dealt with a hostage situation. Spinne grinned. "Not used to hostage situations, are you?" Samus's eyes widened.

"How the--!?" gasped the bounty hunter. Spinne laughed wickedly.

"Did I mention that I'm a telepath?" he taunted. He then pulled the gun away from Link's head. "To make you feel better, I'll put the gun down." He then lowered the gun and let it drop to the ground next to his feet. Samus kept her arm cannon aimed at Spinne, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. What she didn't plan on was him using his free hand to fire a blast of dark magic at Samus, knocking her out into the hallway into the opposite wall, heavily damaging it and knocking her out. Link let out a muffled scream and tried desperately to get free of the monster's grasp. Spinne looked at him and laughed loudly. "Foolish boy! Did you honestly think you could escape me forever!? Your fear will be used to destroy the Gegend government and the lives that rule it, and there's nothing you or any of your friends can do about it!" Spinne continued to laugh until he saw Ganondorf slowly push himself up from the rubble, wincing from his injuries. Ganondorf glared hatefully at Spinne, the Triforce of Power glowing brightly on the back of his right hand. Spinne merely grinned and formed a portal behind himself. He slowly began to back up into it, pulling a struggling Link along with him. Ganondorf held his hand out to Spinne.

"Stop right there, Scum," barked Ganondorf. Spinne stopped, watching Ganondorf. He grinned, then laughed once more.

"So I see the roles are switched," chuckled Spinne. "The Hero is in distress, and his greatest enemy is trying to be the one who rescues him. My, my, my…how interesting. Little do you realize that if you try to blast me, you risk killing Link."

"If you die in the process," started Ganondorf, "then that's fine by me." Link gulped a bit. Spinne studied the Gerudo, then smirked a bit.

"Then why do you hesitate?" asked the doctor. Ganondorf just continued to glare at Spinne, not faltering one bit. Link looked pleadingly at Ganondorf, then made eye contact with him. Ganondorf's eyes widened slightly once he saw the Hylian nod to him, as if he wanted Ganondorf to kill both of them. He looked at the back of Link's hand, and the Triforce of Courage was still glowing softly, but not like it had in the past day. Spinne glanced at it, then huffed, backing up into the portal. "I knew you couldn't do it." Before Ganondorf could react, Spinne had disappeared through the portal with Link, with the portal closing quickly after the two departed. Ganondorf cursed to himself, then glared down at the ground, clenching his fists tightly. In his anger, he didn't hear Samus slowly get up and enter the heavily damaged room. She walked up to the Gerudo and looked up at him.

"We'll get him back," she assured him. Ganondorf looked at her, anger showing in his eyes.

"Link wanted me to kill him and Spinne," he explained to her. "He was more afraid of what Spinne would do to him and to Gegend than me taking his life in order to kill Spinne."

"Link hasn't totally lost his courage," concluded Samus. "He's always put the lives of others before his own well-being. His courage that he lost is slowly returning to him. He's doing what he can to fight back. Now it's our turn to do our part."

"Leave Spinne for me," ordered Ganondorf. "I want him to suffer dearly…I want to slowly kill him with my bare hands."

"First thing's first," stated Samus. "We need to get Fox to the infirmary and inform Master Hand on what's happened. Then we're going after Spinne and getting Link back." Ganondorf slowly nodded, then walked over to Fox, picking him up like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. Samus cringed a bit at how Ganondorf was carrying him, but she knew better than to correct Ganondorf, especially when he was enraged. The only thing on Ganondorf's mind at the moment was how he was going to kill Spinne.


	8. Worst Fears

Chapter 8—Worst Fears

The power and phone lines were soon restored to the Smash Mansion as soon as all of the damage had been assessed. While the power was being worked on, Ganondorf and Samus brought the unconscious and injured Fox downstairs to the infirmary, where Mario began to take a look at him. Falco had seen the condition Fox was in as his friend was brought down the stairs and instantly grew worried. He paced back and forth in front of the infirmary door with each passing moment, anxiously awaiting the news of Fox's condition. Samus pulled out and became glued to her laptop once more as she sat in a chair in the hallway. Ganondorf had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, staring down at the floor, disturbingly silent. Falco finally had enough of the wait and opened the door to the infirmary and stormed inside. Mario and Peach quickly turned to look at the Avian, startled. Mario smiled slightly.

"He's-a going to be-a okay," he assured. "We were about-a to come and-a get you." Falco sighed in relief, then walked over to Fox's bedside. He looked at his unconscious leader. Fox had bandages around his head, neck, arms, chest, and left ankle. His breathing was a bit raspy, but not enough to cause concern. Falco looked at Mario and Peach. Mario looked at Fox once more. "He has a concussion, some-a broken ribs, and a sprained ankle. He-a needs to-a rest."

"How powerful is this guy?" fumed Falco.

"Powerful enough," answered Ganondorf, almost monotone. Everybody's eyes fell onto the Gerudo. Ganondorf lifted his head up and looked at everyone with his eyes narrowed, but not in his usual threatening demeanor. His eyes looked more determined than anything. "Spinne is not someone to be taken lightly. He's always two steps ahead of us as he pushes us an extra one back."

"Master Hand has already sent Captain Falcon, Zelda, and Kirby to Spinne's lab to go rescue Link while the rest of us recovered," explained Samus.

"That's an odd grouping," uttered Ganondorf.

"Captain Falcon is one of our fastest Smashers," continued Samus, "and Zelda has a piece of the Triforce, allowing her to locate Link. Plus, her magical abilities are on par with Spinne's, if not stronger. And if Kirby can copy any of Spinne's abilities, even for that short amount of time, he'll be able to be evenly matched with the doctor."

"People like that shouldn't be allowed to get Ph. D's," commented Falco. "People like that need to be locked up."

"Or dead," contested Ganondorf. He suddenly blinked, then closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. He began to feel strange, then he heard a female voice in his head.

_"Ganondorf, can you hear me? It's me, Zelda," _asked Zelda telepathically.

_"What is it, Princess?" _questioned the Gerudo, sounding serious.

_"I'm at Spinne's Lab," _she began. _"The entire interior of the building is in disarray and there are no traces of Link, Spinne, or his assistant at all."_

_"Damn!"_ exclaimed Ganondorf, his face contorting in anger. _"What do you want me to do!?"_

_"First off, don't yell at me,"_ scolded the princess. _"Secondly, relay to Samus what I just told you and see if she can find anything about other possible locations Spinne could be at. She found him the first time and was able to get background information on him. Maybe she can figure out more."_

_"I'll do that," _confirmed Ganondorf. He ended the connection there and opened his eyes. "Bad news from Princess Zelda, guys; Link, Spinne, and his assistant aren't in his lab, and the whole place is trashed."

"Damn!" yelled Falco, clenching his fists. "Where the hell are we supposed to find them then!?"

"Keep your beak on, I'm looking for something!" snapped Samus as she typed madly away at her laptop. The others just blinked at the bounty hunter. They always knew her as calm and collective, but now she was snapping at everybody without warning.

"Must be that time of the month," whispered Falco to Mario. Mario just rolled his eyes and started putting his medical supplies away, with Peach assisting him. Falco simply watched the two, then sighed and sat down at Fox's bedside. Ganondorf walked over to Samus and looked over her shoulder as she searched frantically for any sort of clue that could help them on their search. Samus ignored the phone in the infirmary ringing as she looked through database after database. Peach decided to answer the phone since nobody else was making an effort to do so.

"Hello?" she asked politely.

"Peach, is Samus nearby?" asked Captain Falcon on the other line.

"Yes, she is," answered the princess. "Why?"

"Tell her to look up 513-PDR," ordered the F-Zero racer. Peach cupped her hand over the outgoing end of the phone and turned to face Samus.

"Samus," she called out. "Captain Falcon wants you to look up 513-PDR. I'm not sure what it means." Samus looked up, then back down at her laptop, typing in the message into the search engine. Samus's face lit up.

"Tell Captain Falcon that he's a genius!" exclaimed Samus. Peach giggled, then relayed the message to the racer. Ganondorf looked onto the screen and listened to Samus as she began to read aloud the latest discovery. "'513-PDR is a small space station that has gone up into space within the past ten years between Terra Firma,' which is where we are, 'and Erde. The origins of the station are still unknown as communication devices do not exist on the spaceship, nor can the Intergalactic Police get anywhere near it due to an unseen force field. The only known information about the 513-PDR is that it contains what appears to be an astronomical observatory on the west wing of the station.'"

"The unseen force field sounds like something Spinne would come up with, given he can use magic and telepathy," mused Peach aloud.

"If Spinne truly does have a laser capable of reaching Gegend," started Ganondorf, narrowing his eyes, "the only logical place to put it is in space."

"Then that's where we're going," concluded the bounty hunter.. "Samus and I will go in her spaceship. Peach, tell Captain Falcon to have his team warn Gegen of the attack. Falco, we'll need you on standby just in case we need assistance." Falco looked over at Samus, suddenly looking surprised.

"What the hell? You're giving me orders?" blurted out the Avian. Samus pounded her right fist into her left palm as a warning. Falco just sighed and nodded. "Fine, fine, I'll stay on standby."

"Good. Ready, Samus?" asked Ganondorf. Samus shut down her laptop and nodded, standing up. She punched a few keys on the small computer on her right wrist and her Chozo Armor appeared on her body, helmet and all. The two quickly darted down to where Samus's ship was parked. Mario sighed, then thought for a few moments. He wrote out 513-PDR onto a sheet of paper, then messed around with the letters and numbers. He blinked in surprise once he found an interesting match-up.

"Hey-a, Falco, Peach" said the plumber, trying to get Falco's attention. Falco and Peach both looked at Mario, wondering what was going on. "If you-a rearrange the letters and-a numbers in 513-PDR-a, you-a get 'SPIDER'." Falco blinked in surprise, not having made that connection before. Peach made a face.

"I hate spiders," she complained.

* * *

Link slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The room he was in was incredibly dark, save for the light that was brightly lit over his head, illuminating the area around him within a ten foot radius. As he shifted, he realized that his wrists were bound above his head, attached to a cold wall; his ankles were also bound to the wall. He looked down at himself and a white crystal was resting on his chest. Coming out of the white crystal were eight metal legs that attached to the wall on either side of Link's torso. He sighed and closed his eyes, keeping his head lowered. 

"How did I get myself into this mess?" he asked himself aloud. "And the others…I hope they're okay." His look of despair soon turned into a determined one. "They'll come for me…I just know it. And until then, I won't show any fear at all. If fear is what that freak wants, I won't let him get it from me."

"You already did…" moaned a voice. Link gasped and quickly lifted his head up in the direction of the voice. He didn't see anybody, however.

"Who's there!?" shouted Link demandingly. He cocked an eyebrow as a middle-aged man in a nice, business suit stepped out of the shadows, facing Link evenly. Link studied the man further and noticed that he could see through him. "It's got to be a trick."

"Do you know who I was, boy?" asked the man calmly. Link just looked as confused as ever. The man shook his head, then faced Link once more. "I was President Leiter of the country of Gegend. I am merely a ghost of what I once was because of you." Link's eyes widened slightly as he felt his heart sink a bit.

"You…the laser…" breathed Link. Leiter nodded.

"Yes…the laser that Spinne was operating through fear…your fear," confirmed the ghost. "I was presenting a speech to the people of Gegend on the front lawn that day…thousands were in attendance, as this speech was to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of the Gegend and Boxen War. Spinne succeeded in firing the laser onto the capitol, killing not only me, but hundreds of government workers, dozens upon dozens of law enforcement officials, and thousands of innocent civilians." Link felt the color leave his skin as he felt his heart sink further. "That's right, _innocent_ civilians were killed because of you!"

"Oh Gods," choked Link. If his legs were capable of giving out underneath him, they would have. He felt his body begin to tremble as tears welled up in his eyes. "But…I don't…I don't remember the laser going off…"

"You were unconscious when it happened," explained Leiter. "And those people weren't the only victims that died because of you…" Link managed to lift his head up to look at Leiter. "Your friends were trying to stop the laser…but they failed to do it on time and were unable to get out of the laser's path…they were the first ones to die." Link quickly shook his head.

"No! That can't be true!" he bellowed. "You're a ghost! How can you know what was going on with me and what was going on here if you were still alive at that point in time?!" Leiter slowly walked up to Link and placed his hands on Link's head. Link didn't feel the hands, but his eyes widened in horror as he saw images form from his mind and manifested themselves into Link's vision, shutting out the rest of the outside world.

_Flash._

_He saw Samus and Ganondorf in space suits outside of the station, trying to disarm the laser from the outside. Ganondorf was using his magic to hold off the Spider Drones as Samus worked with trying to disable the weapon._

_"Hurry up with disabling that laser!" roared Ganondorf._

_"I'm doing the best that I can!" shot back Samus._

_"Can't you just destroy the insides with your beam cannon!?" questioned the Gerudo._

_"I risk destroying the entire place if I do that!" shouted Samus. The two quickly looked up as they heard the sound of the laser being charged up. Indeed, what they heard was true. Samus made her way up in front of the laser and spread her arms out to her sides, using what little energy she had left to put up a barrier around herself._

_"Samus, what the hell are you doing!?" cried out Ganondorf._

_"If my barrier is strong enough, it may reflect the laser off somewhere else!" yelled Samus. Ganondorf made his way up to Samus and tried to pull her away."_

_"You'll get killed! Get out of the way!" ordered Ganondorf. The two didn't have any time to react as the laser came directly at them. The two screamed as they were engulfed in the laser._

_Flash._

_He saw President Leiter giving his speech to the people of Gegend. He is stopped by Princess Zelda running onto the stage, with Captain Falcon and Kirby in tow._

_"President Leiter, you need to evacuate the area!" pleaded the princess. "You're all in grave danger!"_

_"Young lady, what is the meaning of this?" asked Leiter. "Security!"_

_"What are you more worried about!?" questioned Falcon, obviously on edge with the situation. "A woman or a giant laser with the same strength as a good-sized bomb!?_

_"Sir, I…what in the blazes is that!?" screamed Leiter as he looked up in the sky. Within seconds, the laser hit the stage that the president and the Smashers were on directly, and then a wave of destruction enveloped the rest of the area on the capitol lawn, leaving no survivors behind._

_Flash._

_All Link felt was fear, pain, and anguish as he felt the energy being sucked out of his body. All he saw were the terrified faces of his friends moments before they were destroyed. What felt like an eternity of torture was actually only a few minutes of the frightened energy being sucked out of the boy's body._

_Flash._

Link opened his eyes in sheer horror and breathed heavily. His skin was sheet white and his body was visibly shaking. Tears were pouring down his cheeks as he remembered everything that he had just witnessed. He suddenly remembered that he was talking to a ghost, but the ghost was gone. Instead, there was another man in front of him, alive and well, who was holding onto Link's head just as the ghost of Leiter had. Link slowly looked up, then screamed once he saw that the man was none other than Spinne, who was grinning sadistically down at him.

"That was perfect, Link," complimented the doctor. "That pure and utter terror that you felt has given me enough energy to power up the laser." He let go of Link's head and took out the white crystal that was on Link's chest. Link could see the crystal pulsating with energy, which made Link's heart stop for a few moments.

"No…" was all that Link could manage to say. Spinne's grin grew wider.

"Yes," he replied. "And it's all thanks to you, Link. You and your beautiful fear."

"Then…those images…" breathed Link.

"They never happened," confirmed Spinne. "I created those images in your head and made you believe that what I showed you actually happened so that I could get the energy that I needed from you." Spinne paused for a moment to chuckle deeply. "I don't know which feels worse for you: believing that your friends and the people of Gegend were completely destroyed, or knowing that they're alive, but there's nothing that you can do to save them. By allowing yourself to be manipulated this easily by me means that you have sealed the fates of thousands of people, including those of your friends." Link felt even worse than earlier. He just stared at the ground wide-eyed in pure shock. Spinne gave one last look at Link, then turned around and left the room, laughing maniacally with each step that he made. Tears began to pour down Link's cheeks as he hung his head low, feeling his body grow weary from the loss of energy. He spent the rest of his energy breaking down into quiet, heavy sobs as his heart shattered to pieces.

* * *

Sorry about the long wait on this chapter, guys! I've been loaded with numerous projects in the past week. Now that things have settled down, I can write again during my spare time. Hopefully I won't take breaks longer than this. This story will be ending in a few chapters, but I have decided that I am going to do a sequal of this, so keep your eyes open for that in the next few months! Thank you all for your support and I hope to continue clenching your fanfic thirst with this story and future ones! 


	9. The Courage Within

Chapter 9—The Courage Within

Samus and Ganondorf entered Samus's spaceship and quickly took off. It would take about a day to get to 513-PDR. The bounty hunter took occasional glances back at Ganondorf, who was sitting in a makeshift passenger's seat behind her own. She noticed the Gerudo's narrowed eyes, staring off at nothing in particular. She could tell there was a bit of an internal struggle in the man, but she knew not to press the matter further with him. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Ganondorf finally spoke up.

"Spinne is extremely powerful," he said monotonously. Samus simply nodded.

"I didn't get the chance to scan him for any weaknesses," she replied. "The only thing on my mind at that moment was to get him away from Link, which I failed to do."

"We all failed," clarified Ganondorf, his voice a bit softer. "What the hell is he? He grew four extra arms, for Din's sake!"

"I found some strands of hair in the room after you took Fox out of there," admitted Samus. "I sent them to Mario to do a DNA test to see what kind of…what Spinne is. I don't even know what to call him; a person, a creature…"

"Just call Spinne an 'it' and we'll call it a day," spat Ganondorf. "We'd better get there soon before he does something else to Link."

"I'm getting us there as fast as this ship can take us," explained Samus. "I need to do some upgrades on my ship, especially since the thrusters were damaged beyond repair with our first encounter with Spinne."

"It's as if he knew we were going to eventually go out into space to find him," fumed Ganondorf. "The Arwings can get us there quicker, which he probably knew, which is probably why he did more damage to Fox than any of us."

"And he must have known that Falco wouldn't leave his leader's side at a time like this," added Samus. She suddenly heard a familiar beeping, and she knew she was getting an incoming message. She pressed a button on the control panel. "This is bounty hunter Samus Aran speaking, over."

"Samus, it's Falco," spoke the avian on the other side. "We've got the results of the DNA tests."

"And?" asked Ganondorf. "What is Spinne?"

"We found out that he is, in fact, Human, but with multiple strands of spider DNA infused into his own," announced Falco. Samus cringed a bit while Ganondorf's face contorted into one of confusion. "We also found a genetic mutation which allows him to use magic, which you'd find in people like Ness and Captain Falcon."

"That explains the fire that comes from his moves," muttered Ganondorf. "So the spider DNA allowed him to gain four extra arms?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," admitted Falco.

"How's Fox doing?" questioned Samus. There was a bit of a pause on the other line.

"He still hasn't woken up yet," answered Falco worriedly. Samus frowned. She knew Falco thought highly of Fox and cared about him as a friend, but she had never seen him visibly or verbally show it. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Falco clear his throat. "Zelda, Captain Falcon, and Kirby have already left to go to Gegend and warn the president of the attack."

"They won't make it in time," contested Ganondorf. "It's taking us a day to get to Spinne, and Samus said that it's a three day's journey in her spaceship to Erde."

"Against my better judgment, and with a threat of maiming from Master Hand," started Falco, obviously annoyed, "The three are using the Great Fox to get to Erde. They should get there about the same time you get to 513-PDR."

"Why couldn't we use the Great Fox?" complained Ganondorf.

"Because Samus would be piloting it," answered Falco. Samus narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"What!?" she exclaimed angrily. "Just because my ship is in constant need of repair doesn't mean I'm a bad pilot!" Ganondorf and Falco snickered, then burst into laughter. "I hate you both right now. Samus out." She angrily ended communications with Falco, then shot a glare at Ganondorf, who just sat there, smirking at her. "What!?"

"Nothing," said Ganondorf as innocently as he could. He suddenly blinked in realization. "Oh crap. I can't breathe in space." Samus put the ship in auto-pilot mode and stood up, walking over to a trunk, opening it up. She pulled out a charcoal-colored suit and helmet, then tossed it to Ganondorf. Ganondorf looked at them, then at her. "What's this?"

"Your space suit," explained Samus. "It's a Galactic Federation suit, to be exact. Don't ask me why, but I have a couple of these in my ship. I'm glad I finally have a use for them. That's the largest size I could find. I hope it fits." Ganondorf gave her a confused look, then slightly nodded. He stood up and walked over to a well-hidden corner of the ship as Samus went back to piloting.

* * *

Spinne sat in the control room, staring at the white crystal pulsating with energy in his hand, grinning wickedly. He then glanced at one of the computers, which had Gegend's national news posted on the screen. The article shown was about the tenth anniversary of Gegend and Boxen's peace treaty that ended the war between the two nations. It was the war that drove Spinne to exact revenge on Gegend's government.

"Soon," he said to himself. "Soon, my revenge will be had. Everything is going according to plan and right on schedule." He looked over his shoulder at Ubel, who was sitting at another computer, checking on the status of the systems in the space station. "Miss Ubel."

"Yes, Doctor Spinne?" asked the young woman, turning her full attention to her boss.

"I want you to increase security around the space station," ordered the doctor. "Put the Spider Drones into Aerial Attack mode and have them guard the outside perimeter of 513-PDR."

"Yes, Doctor Spinne," she spoke, understanding her orders. She stood up from her seat and exited the control room, shutting the door behind her. Once Ubel had left, Spinne set the crystal down and stood up himself, walking out of the room and down the hall. He entered the room where Link was being held and walked up to the unconscious Hylian. Link was still bound to the wall, but his body was pale and limp and his head hung low. Spinne cupped his hand under Link's chin and lifted his head up a bit. He let it droop back down as he pulled his hand away quickly, looking at it.

"His skin is cold to the touch," breathed Spinne. He checked Link's pulse. "He's still alive…" He then checked the back of Link's left hand. He grabbed it, then let go of it, his eyes widening slightly. "The Triforce of Courage…"

* * *

Samus and Ganondorf arrived sooner than expected at 513-PDR. Their ship was quickly under attack by the Spider Drones. Samus was able to take them out easily with her ship's missiles. Samus nodded to Ganondorf, who then stood up in his Galactic Federation uniform, sans helmet. He held his hands out towards the space station and his hands began to glow with a dark aura. There was a flash of red light in front of the ship, then it completely disappeared. Ganondorf grinned and nodded to Samus, who then brought the ship closer to the space station. She docked the ship inside and activated her Chozo Armor. Ganondorf put his helmet on and followed Samus out of the ship and down one of the hallways. Samus activated her scanner once they were in an enclosed hallway away from the open docking area and looked around.

"There's a sufficient amount of oxygen in the station, so you can take your helmet off if you want to," announced Samus. Ganondorf nodded and removed his helmet. Suddenly, he put a hand on his chest and cringed, staggering forward a bit. Samus quickly grabbed onto him to stabilize the larger man. "Ganondorf, what's wrong?!" Ganondorf shook his head and regained his balance on his own, taking a few deep breaths.

"What just happened?" he groaned. He blinked, then looked down at his right hand. His eyes widened once he saw not only the Triforce of Power glow, but another piece, as well. "The Triforce of Courage…the Triforce of Courage is inside of me!" He suddenly grinned. "At long last…"

"If the Triforce of Courage is inside of you," started Samus, "then that means…" Ganondorf's grin suddenly faded.

"Something must have happened to Link for this to happen," he muttered. He stared at the back of his hand, a conflicting look on his face. After a long period of silence, he finally spoke up. "Samus, go find Spinne."

"I thought you wanted to kill him yourself?" interrogated Samus, growing suspicious of Ganondorf's recent change in mood.

"Just do it!" ordered the Gerudo. Samus sighed, frustrated. On one hand, she knew Spinne and the laser had to be stopped. On the other hand, she had a feeling that Ganondorf was up to no good now that he had two pieces of the Triforce. She remembered Ganondorf telling her that the only reason he was protecting Link was to ensure that he was able to get the Triforce of Courage from him eventually. Now that Ganondorf had it, she wasn't sure what he was going to do with it.

"I want you to come with me," stated Samus. Ganondorf shook his head, then walked off in a random direction. Samus sighed, frustrated, then ran off in the direction of the control room.

* * *

Sorry about the long wait again, guys! I had a huge test to study for, and I've been sick, to top it all off. I had a bit of writer's block, too, but now that that's gone, and my test is over, the next chapter should be up sometime this weekend. Please keep sending me reviews! They help me out a lot, especially with the last chapter when I found a bunch of errors that I had made. 


	10. Decisions

Chapter 10—Decisions

Samus ran down the hallway toward the main control room, shooting down any Spider Drones that she encountered. The entire time, she kept thinking about what Ganondorf was up to, and why he suddenly didn't want to go after Spinne. She took her frustration out on any and all Spider Drones. She stopped occasionally to scan different parts of the ship, hoping it'll give her some clues as to how to shut down the laser.

"I'll deal with Ganondorf later, once I complete the mission," she hissed to herself. She eventually made it into the main control room. She cautiously looked around, finding the room eerily quiet. She quickly turned around once she heard the door slam shut. She aimed her beam cannon at the newcomer in the room. "Ubel, I presume?"

"You are correct," affirmed the assistant. Ubel slowly strutted towards Samus. She wore a dark purple, skin-tight, long-sleeved jumpsuit that looked almost similar to Samus's Zero Suit. Her long, black hair flowed behind her with every step. Samus fired a shot at Ubel without warning, and was shocked at how quickly the woman dodged. Ubel darted at Samus, and the two quickly engaged in a hand-to-hand battle. Samus grabbed the collar of Ubel's suit and slammed her against the wall, pointing the beam cannon at her face.

"Where's Spinne!?" interrogated Samus forcefully. Ubel merely grinned.

"Like I'd tell you?" Ubel then grabbed Samus by the wrist that was holding her and threw the bounty hunter away. Samus fired a few shots at Ubel, which the dark-haired woman easily dodged. "Just like how I'm going to tell you that the countdown on the firing of the laser has already begun." Samus quickly looked at the main computer that was attached to the laser itself. The timer was at ten minutes and ticking away by the second. Before Samus could make another move, she felt something slam onto her back. "I wouldn't move, if I were you…unless you want that motion-sensor bomb on your back to explode."

"What the-!?" Samus's eyes widened and she tensed up. Ubel merely laughed.

"You see, Sammie," she began, "your scanners can pick up how to shut down the laser, but that requires movement. We can't have you spoiling Doctor Spinne's plan like that. If you want to shut down the laser that badly, then feel free to move…but you'll die in the process, along with your friends that are on this ship."

"Link…" Samus muttered. Ubel tilted her head slightly, grinning.

"You didn't mention the Gerudo. Now why is that? Was there a little lover's quarrel?"

"Lover's quarrel!? Are you insane!?" Ubel chuckled once more.

"You and I both know there's some chemistry between you two," taunted the woman. "Doctor Spinne and I both saw how well you two work together when we were spying on you two in the kitchen." Samus narrowed her eyes dangerously at Ubel, who merely laughed once more. She made her way to the door and opened it. She looked over her shoulder at Samus, grinning wickedly. "By the way…eight minutes until Gegend's impending doom. Ta-tah." Ubel then closed the door behind her, locking Samus inside.

* * *

Ganondorf quietly made his way into the room Link was being held in. He approached the unconscious hero and studied him carefully. He checked Link's vitals and could tell the boy was barely alive. Ganondorf grinned.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time, Link," began Ganondorf. "For seven years, I've waited to get the Triforce of Courage from you, and now it's in my grasp." Ganondorf clenched his fist as both the Triforce of Power and Courage radiated on the back of his hand. "And now that I have it, there's no reason for me to keep you alive." He placed his hand around Link's neck and squeezed slightly, noticing his hand was shaking. He tried to tighten his grip further, but found that he was having trouble in doing so. He narrowed his eyes, a hesitant expression forming on his face. He stayed that way for a few moments before pulling his hand away, letting go of Link. "Why…!? Why can't I kill you!? I can't…" Ganondorf yelled in frustration and punched the wall next to Link's head, caving it in a bit. He began to breathe hard as he glared at the ground. "Link's completely helpless…he can't fight back…then why can't I kill him!?" He closed his eyes and reflected for a few more moments. "It's…it's because he can't fight back…there's no joy in killing him when he's already dying…even if he is the bane of my existence." He quickly grabbed his head and shuts his eyes tightly as he saw the images that Link had embedded into his mind by Spinne. His eyes shot wide open once the scenes ended and he felt his body tremble slightly. He lifted his head up and looked at Link. He shakily placed a hand on the boy's face and lifted his head up to get a better look at it. Link's skin was very pale with the exceptions of his cheeks, which were stained with tears. Even though he was unconscious, his expression was still one of sorrow. Ganondorf's expression softened slightly when he laid eyes on Link's sad state. He then narrowed his eyes, letting Link's head droop back down as he let go. "Spinne…Spinne is the reason behind all of this…everything has been thrown into chaos because of him…everything about me has been thrown into chaos. That needs to change…starting with you, Link!" Ganondorf yelled and grabbed Link's chest with his right hand tightly. His face contorted in pain as they both began to glow with a green aura. The Triforce of Power glowed brightly along with the Triforce of Courage, but the latter piece quickly faded away. Courage's light was rekindled on the back of Link's hand; it glowed dimly, then slowly returned to its original glow. Both men stopped glowing as Ganondorf let go and staggered backwards, catching his breath as he placed a hand on his chest. The color in Link's skin began to return to its natural color as he slowly regained consciousness.

"Nngh…wh…what?" breathed Link. He slowly lifted his head up and looked at Ganondorf, who merely stared back at him with an unreadable expression. "Ganondorf?"

"Yes," was all Ganondorf managed to say. He grinned, then walked over to Link and ripped away his bindings. He quickly caught Link as he collapsed, then helped him to his feet.

"You…you saved me," he uttered. "But why? You could have killed me if you wanted to."

"I do want to kill you," admitted Ganondorf, grinning. "But not when you're unarmed and defenseless like you are. I want you to die on my blade in battle." Link stared up at him, then smiled slightly.

"Thank you." Ganondorf nodded to him slightly. Link then frowned. "The laser...Spinne tricked me and got the energy he needed from me…I'm so sorry." Ganondorf narrowed his eyes.

"I saw what he did…" he growled. "Samus is already on her way to find Spinne and hopefully she found a way to shut down the laser. We need to go find her and help her out." Link looked up at Ganondorf and nodded, a determined look on his face. Ganondorf grinned. "That's the pesky hero that I know. Come on, let's go." Ganondorf quickly ran towards the door, with Link following behind. Link suddenly stopped.

"Wait!" he shouted. Ganondorf skidded to a halt and turned around. Link scowled a bit. "I don't have any weapons."

"You have enough strength to do hand-to-hand combat, don't you?" Link nodded. "Just stay close by then." Link nodded slightly again, then caught up with Ganondorf. The two ran down the hall towards the control room, then slew to a stop as their way was blocked by Spider Drones. They turned around and saw more Spider Drones approaching, completely blocking their path. Link and Ganondorf stood back-to-back, looking at each other over their shoulders.

"Great, now what?" questioned Link. "We're completely surrounded."

"Give me a moment,_Hero_, I'm thinking here!" snapped Ganondorf as he surveyed his surroundings.

"It better be a quick moment, because they're closing in on us!" Ganondorf looked at the Spider Drones and saw that they were, indeed, coming closer to the pair with each step. He cursed under his breath as the drones readied their guns, pointing them at the two.

"…Fuck…!"

* * *

Sorry I took so long to update, guys! I've had some stuff going on in my life (like finally getting a job, yay!) and my workload with my classes has been heavy. Things will finally settle down after next weekend and I can finish the story. Please keep those reviews coming! I like them. A lot. Please. Feed the starving artist--I mean writer--I mean DAMMIT!! I love you all smiles 


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